One-Acts by EM Lewis at high schools in Lansing, MI

Congratulations to Everett and Sexton High Schools in Lansing, Michigan, where director Jim Allen produced nine of my short plays with his student actors.

• The Incident Report
• Partners
• Drop-Off Day
• Apple Season
• $2,500 OBO
• The Edge of Ross Island
• Sing Me That Leonard Cohen Song Again
• Lend Me a Mentor
• Leonard's Voice

Hope you had fun with the plays!

A Reading of "Heads" at NOW Theater Company

A talk-back after the reading of "Heads" with our cast, playwright and director,
moderated by Ian August.

A big thank you to Lynne Elson and her new NOW Theater Company for including my play "Heads" in her new reading series at the West Windsor Arts Council in Princeton Junction, NJ.  I love the opportunity to work locally, and with such great people!  The series also features new plays by Ian August, Jim Christy and Elson herself.

My playwright/director friend and colleague David Hilder directed for me.  What a pleasure, always, to work with him!  And we had a great cast!  New Jersey actors Chris Coucill as American engineer Harold Wolfe, and Eric Rolland as photojournalist Jack Velazquez, and New York actors Christian Conn as network journalist Michael Apres, and Thia Stephan as British embassy worker Caroline Conway.

I'm particularly fond of this play, which is a fictional story about four civilians who are taken hostage in the early years of the war in Iraq.  It was nice to have the chance to spend some time with these characters again. Like seeing old friends again.

Reading of "Apple Season" at PlayFest Santa Barbara Event

Director (and PlayFest co-artistic director) Jeffrey Meek,
between our two "Apple Season" actors, Rebecca Staab and John Walcutt.

A big thank you to co-artistic director Michael Gross for including a reading of my play "Apple Season" in his kick-off event for PlayFest Santa Barbara.  This brand new festival is going to be an exciting celebration of new work, and I was delighted to be involved!  I wish I could have been there myself.

"Apple Season" is set in my home state of Oregon.  It's a ten-minute play that I'm now working to turn into a full-length two-hander.

Rebecca Staab and John Walcutt in "Apple Season" by EM Lewis,
at the PlayFest Santa Barbara Kick-Off Party.

"Apple Season" by EM Lewis.

"Lend Me a Mentor" heads to the Catskills

Last month, one of my most-produced ten-minute plays, "Lend Me a Mentor," was produced at the Open Eye Theater up in the Catskills as part of their "Summer Shortcuts" program.  The play is about a young writer who stalks her favorite curmudgeonly old novelist at a book signing, and tries to talk him into being her mentor.  It's been done in Los Angeles, featuring the delightful duo of America Young and Tom Boyle, directed by Julie Briggs.  It's been done in San Diego, and in China, and in a handful of other places.  Glad to add upstate New York to the list!

"Lend Me a Mentor" by EM Lewis at the Open Eye Theater.  Directed by Melissa Day.  Featuring Barbara Morrow and Mark Gunst.  Performances were August 9-19 at the Open Eye Theater, 960 Main Street, Margaretville, NY.

"Infinite Black Suitcase" hits the bookshelves!

The mail lady delivered the best package today!  My author's copies of "Infinite Black Suitcase" have arrived from Samuel French.  What a wonderful feeling, to hold a book in your hand and think, "I wrote this."

Copies of "Infinite Black Suitcase" and "Song of Extinction" (published in 2010) are available for purchase from the Samuel French bookstores or website, or from Amazon.  I hope you'll buy one today!

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" in HotCity Theater's Greenhouse Festival in St. Louis!

HotCity Theater's 6th Annual Greenhouse New Play Festival.

The third stop in my Fall 2011 theater festival triple-header was the HotCity Theater Festival.  My play "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" was a finalist in their annual Greenhouse Festival, and they brought me out for a week of working on my play, culminating in a reading.

It was great to be back in St. Louis, and seeing all the nice folks at HotCity again.  My play "Song of Extinction" had been a finalist back in 2008, and I'd attended then and really liked the people and the plays they'd chosen.  When I saw their call for submissions, I scrambled to find something to send, because I knew they were good people -- and the kind of theater folks I want to work with.  Lo and behold, they picked my play to be a finalist again!

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" is my very first play.  Earlier than "Infinite Black Suitcase," even, which was my first produced play.  I wrote "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" in the playwriting class that changed my life.  I took it after I'd finished my graduate program at USC.  I'd worked out in the world for a year or two, then returned to work on staff at USC -- and one of the benefits of working at the university was the opportunity to take classes.  I chose to take a class back in my old writing program.  The playwriting class happened to have a seat open.  I took it!  And I've written almost nothing but plays since.  It was divided between a two-week intensive with the sweet and wonderful Paul Zindel ("The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds") and the rest of the semester with Lee Wochner, who became a real mentor to me as I struggled to become a playwright.  The assignment was to write a one-act play.  "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" was the play that poured out of me.

A poster for "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday."  Writing plays is hard.  Writing *about* your plays is even harder...

"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" is a comedy about a woman who decides to leave her life behind to become a commercial fisherwoman in Alaska, and about her family, who has decided that they will do absolutely anything to keep her from going.

HotCity had created posters with playwright's notes on them for each of the three finalist plays -- "Release Point," "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday," and "Shake and Be Saved!" -- and displayed them in the lobby, so audience members could see what they were getting into.

Three plays were selected for the 2011 HotCity Greenhouse Festival.  My compatriots were Gino Dilorio, whose offering was an uncompromising two-hander called "Release Point," and Christopher Wall, who had written a fierce farce called "Shake and Be Saved."  I liked both of their plays very much.

Me and the guys.  Playwrights Christopher Wall, EM Lewis and Gino Dilorio.  They are fantastic writers, and I was lucky to be  at the HotCity Greenhouse Festival in such good company!

HotCity brought in a dramaturg to work with all three of us on our scripts -- the incomparable Liz Engelman.  We each had our own director and set of actors.  We had alternating rehearsal and writing days throughout the week, which gave us time to work on our scripts.

I was very pleased to have this chance to work on "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday."  Being such an early play, I didn't have a lot of craft when I wrote it.  I didn't like the ending.  And there were some clunky bits that I'd been itching to get my hands on.  This was the perfect opportunity to go back in and really make this play into what it wanted to be... what I thought it could be.  Because in spite of its faults, I've always had a soft spot for it.  It's a family play.  It's a comedy!  It's a brother/sister play.  And it's got a lot of my heart in it.

The view from my room at the Ignacio Hotel -- a very nice establishment, across from St. Louis University, and right down from the theater.

What is a visit to St. Louis without a stop for barbecue???  Christopher, Gino and I walked over to Pappy's for lunch one day, for what was both a great lunch and an amusing experience.

My lunch at Pappy's.  Pulled pork sandwich with Sweet Baby Jane BBQ sauce, sweet potato fries, and deep fried corn on the cob.  Yes, you heard me right!

Actors hole punch their new pages and insert them into their scripts.  Lots of rewrites!

My team was outstanding.  My director was Annamaria Pileggi, who teaches at Washington University. She had brought together the funniest, most wonderful actors to be my cast.  They even assigned me a "Playwright's Assistant" to print up my pages for me and help with logistical issues and read stage directions -- the sweet and very responsible young Sarah Wagener.  I wrote like a mad woman all week, and by the time Saturday night -- the night of our reading -- rolled around, we were ready!  I thought we were ready...

And we were!  Lots of fun, lots of laughs... just a beautiful night.  Standing room only.  Several friends in attendance, including Hannah Joyce-Hoven, who had been in my reading two weeks earlier at the Inge Center, and happened to be in town to see her sister.  I was walking on air.

The cast of our HotCity Greenhouse Festival reading of "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" included:

Julie Layton as Lynn Hallaby
Antonio Rodriguez as Kelly Hallaby
Lavonne Byers as Margie Hallaby
John Contini as Hudson Hallaby
Michael Kastelein as Gary White
Eric White as Ray Arendt

I'm pleased to report that HotCity has selected "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" to produce in 2012!  The play will have its world premiere in September.  I am absolutely delighted, and can't wait to return to St. Louis!

HotCity Theater in St. Louis, MO will be producing the world premiere of "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" by EM Lewis in September 2012.

Coming soon! Ellen and/or her plays in NYC, Edinburgh, Princeton...

What's up next?  Adventures, here and abroad...

July 17, 2010 -- "The Incident Report" in the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival 

If you're in New York City this summer, I hope you'll check out "The Incident Report" at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. I'm pleased to be working with director Darin Anthony (who also directed my play "Heads" at the Blank Theater and "Leonard's Voice" in Moving Arts' Car Plays) and some of my favorite actors -- Michael Shutt, Peter James Smith and Stephanie Erb. We're taking our Los Angeles production to the Big Apple, and looking forward to it!

Six nights, forty plays, 180 years of publishing. Be a part of history! Come see new and exciting work from some of the freshest playwrights in the country! From over 880 initial submissions, 40 plays were selected to perform in the festival, from which six will be chosen for representation and published in a collection by Samuel French, Inc. Join us for some exciting summer nights of ground breaking theatre!

The Incident Report
Written by EM Lewis

Directed by Darin Anthony


Featuring: Stephanie Erb, Michael Shutt and Peter James Smith

In a small interview room, in a large airport, Aviation Safety Investigator Connor attempts to find out what went wrong on Flight 238.

Performance and Ticket Information:
35th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival
Presented by Samuel French, Inc.
Performance Dates: July 13, 2010 - July 18, 2010
"The Incident Report" performs on Saturday Afternoon during the first session, at 3:00 pm.

The Lion @ Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
(between 9th & 10th Avenues)
New York, NY 10036

For tickets call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com. Ticket Prices: $18.00. 

August 2010 -- "Song of Extinction" goes to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 

Bill Korf, of the California Repertory Company at Rio Hondo College, will be producing the U.K.  Premiere of “Song of Extinction” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.  Directed by Heidi Helen Davis and featuring award-winning actor Darrell Kunitomi as biology teacher Khim Phan.  Presented at “Venue 13.” Preview August 6th, performances August 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13, all at 7:30 p.m. 


CAST: 

 Lily                  Debra DeLiso
 Ellery               Dan Smith
 Max                 Daniel Meneses
 Gil                   Richard Hoffman
 Joshua             Sebastian Velmont
 Khim               Darrell Kunitomi

 Khim's mother    Alex Deliso Smith
 Khim's father      Troy Whiteley
 Khim's sister       Amanda Gomez

Venue 13

Lochend Close,
Canongate

Edinburgh, EH8 8BL

Box office: 07074 201313

Phone: 07050 161320

Website: www.venue13.com

September 2010 - May 2011 -- Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University

I am delighted to have been chosen as one of three Hodder Fellows at Princeton University for the 2010-2011 school year. In September, I'll join fiction writer ZZ Packer and poet Cynthia Cruz as each of us spends a year working on independent projects. I'll be attempting to complete a draft of my new full-length play "Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World."

The Hodder Fellowship was created for artists in the early stages of their careers. In keeping with the bequest of Mary MacKall Gwinn Hodder, it is awarded to individuals during that crucial period when they have demonstrated exceptional promise but have not yet received widespread recognition. Typically, Hodder Fellows are poets, playwrights, novelists, creative nonfiction writers and translators who have published one highly acclaimed book and are undertaking significant new work that might not be possible without the “studious leisure” afforded by this fellowship. Hodder Fellows spend an academic year at Princeton pursuing independent projects.